The GazetteFebruary 2016

Registered Charity Number 263049

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BCA Website Address: www.braillechess.org.ukEmail: customerservices@braillechess.org.ukTwitter: https://twitter.com/braillechess @braillechessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/BrailleChess

To contact a member of the committee, please see the Braille Chess Association’s website where there is a facility for emailing each officer.

Note: The views expressed in the Gazette do not necessarily reflect the policies or views of the BCA, nor those of the editor.

CONTENTSEditorial.......................................................................................................................................................................3Forthcoming Events.....................................................................................................................................................3Words from the Whitehouse........................................................................................................................................5BCA British Championship.........................................................................................................................................6All Under One Roof.....................................................................................................................................................7Colin Crouch Celebration Chess Congress..................................................................................................................8BCA Members in Mainstream Tournaments...............................................................................................................9Two Items for Sale.......................................................................................................................................................9Membership Secretary’s Report................................................................................................................................10Correspondence Chess Director’s Report..................................................................................................................11The 2015-2016 BCCL Competition..........................................................................................................................124th BCA Email Tournament.......................................................................................................................................12Lucy Walsh and Mary Cuthbert Memorial Tournament...........................................................................................12Chris’s Puzzle............................................................................................................................................................14Millennium Club........................................................................................................................................................14Personalia...................................................................................................................................................................14Juliet Reeve................................................................................................................................................................15

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EditorialBelated Happy New Year greetings to all readers! Did any of you make a chess related New Year’s Resolution? Perhaps you want to improve your endgame or learn a new opening? I doubt whether anyone wishing to try a new opening will have sought inspiration from the animal kingdom in the way that Tartakower supposedly did in 1924! For those who are unfamiliar with the tale, the story goes that during a tournament in New York, Tartakower visited the zoo and showed his chessboard to an orangutan. The ape was said to point to the b4 square, which inspired Tartakower to open with b4 in his next game. The opening was not new, but from that point on it acquired the nickname ‘Orangutan’. Sadly, destruction of the tropical forests in Borneo and Sumatra has contributed to the decline of the orangutan to the point where the only two species of Asia’s only great ape are both endangered. However, conservation groups are working to boost numbers by reintroducing orphaned infants to the wild. The ‘Orangutan’ opening has never been widely played so in a sense it is as scarce as the creature after which it was named. Perhaps we could give it a helping hand to become more widespread? If you’ve played a 1. b4 game in the past or if you feel motivated to try the Orangutan, perhaps in a friendly game, why not send it in for the next gazette? Readers who recall the woolly yarn about the Chinese Year of the Sheep in the February 2015 gazette, might have been expecting some monkey business in this issue’s editorial to mark the Year of the Monkey, which starts on the 8th of February 2016. British children are sometimes called ‘little monkeys’ if they are mischievous, however in Chinese culture this would be taken as a great compliment because those born in the Year of the Monkey are thought to be highly intelligent. Alas, not being a ‘Monkey’ myself, I was not ingenious enough to write a monkey themed editorial for this gazette. I’m aware of the opening named after part of a monkey’s anatomy, but have chosen to disregard it so as not to lower the tone! Therefore, the orangutan was as close as I could get and of course, it is an ape, not a monkey. But what’s a suborder between friends? We’re all primates after all!As well as all the regular items, this issue contains feedback on the questionnaire about the future of the BCA British Championship, lots of correspondence chess news, an opportunity to bid for items donated by the family of David Hodgkins, a write up on the Lucy Walsh and Mary Cuthbert Memorial Tournament and an obituary for our much missed associate member, Juliet Reeve. Kindly pay special attention to the Booking Conditions and Procedures, which have been reworded. Finally, don’t miss the article on the Colin Crouch Celebration Chess Congress. The BCA is offering some funding to UK resident visually impaired members who wish to take part! Please send your articles for the May gazette to the editor by the end of March.Julie Leonard By the way, if you haven’t heard of the Monkey’s *** chess opening, work it out by rearranging the letters MUB!

Forthcoming Events18 th to 20 th March 2016: The David Hodgkins Memorial AGM Chess Congress This will be held in memory of David Hodgkins, one of our most active, loyal and much loved members who sadly passed away in early 2015. It will take place at The Hallmark Hotel, Derby. The AGM will be held at 2pm on Saturday 19th March. We are pleased to be returning to this popular hotel with its excellent facilities. The hotel is located within a few yards walk of Derby railway station and is very convenient.There will be two five round chess tournaments. The Open section is open to all visually impaired chess players and associate members of the BCA and the Challengers is limited to those graded 100 or below. The entry fee for both tournaments is £10. The cost of dinner, bed and breakfast for members and associate members is £39 per person per night for Friday and Saturday nights in a single room, and £35 per person per night in a double/twin room. For non members and those staying on the Sunday night, the cost will be £56 per person in a single room and £50 per person in a double/twin. The closing date has now passed but there may still be space for late entries. (The late booking penalty will apply.) Please let Guy know if you are planning to attend the AGM without staying at the hotel so that we can let you have the AGM papers. Organiser Steve Burnell. 25 th June to 2 nd July 2016: Chairman’s Cup, Whitehall Hotel, Exeter Park Road, Bournemouth In 2016 the Chairman’s Cup will be held in memory of Juliet Reeve, a wonderful associate member who passed away on the 29th of August 2015. Juliet made an invaluable contribution to the social side of our events and will be greatly missed for her inexhaustible kindness and generous spirit. The Chairman's Cup is open to all visually impaired players whose grade or estimated grade is 140 or below and to BCA associate members within the same grading limit. The event is played over 7 rounds with one round each

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day. Players may request a half point bye in any one of the first six rounds. If there are sufficient numbers there will be two sections. Entry fee: £10. Cost of dinner, bed and breakfast accommodation to members and associate members of BCA: £260 for the week. The cost to those booking 1 to 4 days: £54 per day. The cost to non-members of BCA: £336 for the week. The closing date for bookings is 30th April 2016. Bookings accepted after that date, at the discretion of the organiser, will be subject to a late booking fee of £10 per person. Bookings, including full payment, should be sent to: Mrs Gill Smith. Please note: Rooms will not be reserved until full payment has been received. The Whitehall Hotel has become very popular with our members who particularly appreciate the good food and the very friendly and helpful staff. The hotel is situated a relatively short downhill walk to the seafront, lower gardens and shops. In addition to the chess tournament there will be a varied programme of social activities. Anyone with ideas for social events, or who wants further information is invited to contact the organisers: John and Pam Jenkins

21 st to 23 rd October 2016: International Autumn Tournament, Holiday Inn, Solihull, West Midlands This will consist of two five round Swiss tournaments – an Open Tournament and a Challengers Tournament for those whose grade or estimated grade is 100 or below. Both tournaments are open to blind and partially sighted players and to associate members of the BCA. The Holiday Inn was used by the BCA a few years ago. It is conveniently located a short taxi ride from Solihull Railway Station, and is also convenient for Birmingham International Airport. The hotel has extensive grounds and is adjacent to Solihull’s indoor shopping centre. The cost for dinner, bed and breakfast for the Friday and Saturday nights is £36 per person per night for BCA members and associate members. The cost for non-members and for those staying the Sunday night will be £51 person per night. There is no single room supplement.Payment for all accommodation (including Sunday if required), together with the £10 entry fee should be sent to the Treasurer, Gill Smith. The closing date for entries is Friday 2nd September. Any queries, please contact the organiser, Mark Hague Booking Conditions and ProceduresIf you have any queries about the hotel or the tournament please contact the organiser. Blind and partially sighted UK residents under the age of 25 receive free entry and free accommodation when playing in BCA events. In appropriate circumstances, free accommodation is also available to a parent or guardian accompanying a junior.Visually impaired UK residents in their first year of membership receive their first BCA weekend event free or £100 reduction in the cost of a week-long event. They may also be accompanied by a guide or companion who will receive the same concession.For a first event we ask for payment in advance and we then make a refund at the event.You may pay in these ways:Cheques payable to Braille Chess Association should be sent to Gill Smith.Online or telephone payments may be made to: Braille Chess Association, sort code 40 52 40, account number 00082456.Credit/debit card payments may be made through the BCA website.If you pay by direct payment then you should inform Gill when the payment has been made. Bookings accepted after the closing date are subject to a £10 late booking penalty for each person. Late bookings and entries are accepted at the discretion of the organiser. Bookings are confirmed when full payment has been received. Payments can only be refunded within the time limit set in the terms and conditions set by the hotels. Members are advised to take out holiday insurance to cover themselves.When contacting Gill please let her know if you want a single, double or twin room and if you have a preference for a bath or a shower. And remember, if emailing Gill, copy in the tournament organiser.Also say whether any of the following apply.

1 If you will be bringing a guide dog;2 If you are on a special diet;3 If you have mobility problems and would benefit from being located in a room near to a lift;4 If you are a wheelchair user;5 If you feel you would have any special difficulties in an emergency such as a fire evacuation;6 Any other special requirements.

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Please note: BCA reserves the right to refuse or cancel any entry or to exclude any person from any event it runs.

Words from the WhitehouseThe committee held a meeting on 21st November; here’s my usual summary of the key points covered at that meeting. Other matters were discussed, but they are covered elsewhere in the gazette.A key part of my work at this time of year is to produce our annual Trustee’s Report and a new three-year Business Plan if I think that any changes to the previous plan warrant a new one. I did think a new Business Plan was appropriate this time, partly because of changes to the international tournament schedule and also because of our likely involvement in the newly reformatted National Club Championships. You can find the Trustee’s Report and Business Plan on our website.Talking of the National Club Championships, we’ll be participating again this year. The championships are scheduled to take place at the Birmingham Airport Holiday Inn from 9th -10th April. At this writing I’ve had expressions of interest from Phil Gordon, Voldi Gailans, George Phillips, Dan Rugman, Bill Armstrong and Steve Burnell. To remind people, funding arrangements adopted by the committee were that we would meet travel costs and pay for bed and breakfast, but dinners were at the individual’s expense and we would ask for a £50 contribution from participants. We looked at the feedback to our recent questionnaire on the format of the British. We got 18 responses; we might have wished for more. Please see Norman Wragg’s article on BCA British Championship for a detailed summary of the results. We have decided to look at hotels other than the Auckland and are investigating the Old Swan in Harrogate, the Livermead House Hotel where the Paignton Congress is held and the Holiday Inn in York used by Peter Cloudsdale for his Jorvik Congress. The committee is sharing the responsibility for working out the appropriate venue and would welcome expressions of interest from someone who would like to become the organiser for this event. Before leaving our domestic tournament agenda, I’d also draw people’s attention to the change in booking procedures directing those entering events to send queries to the organiser and not to Gill; she has begun to feel that people are sending her enquiries which really ought to be dealt with by the main organiser mentioned in the Forthcoming Events section of the gazette.The committee noted that correspondence chess in its traditional form did seem to be in something of a decline. On the day of the meeting we only had thirteen people entering the next league competition. There had hardly been a game, maybe even none at all in the ladder competition for months. By way of contrast our email competitions were flourishing and other forms of internet chess such as Skype tournaments were also popular. The committee isn’t absolutely sure whether this decline is permanent and I should emphasise we have no plans to scrap either the league or the championship; I merely mention it now to make members aware that the committee have noted the relative popularity of the two types of correspondence chess and that we suspect most people are no longer attracted to playing by tape or sticking small bits of Braille paper with a move on into envelopes.Turning to publicity, we ran a stand at the most recent London Sight Village event. Plenty of leaflets were taken and we got expressions of interest, but the feeling at the meeting was that it was time to give exhibiting a break and just send bag inserts to all the events. Looking back at our experience of exhibiting, we felt we’d had some success but nothing like what you’d hope for given the numbers of people who actually come through the door. There’s also a suspicion that the majority of visitors are really only interested in the technology on offer.The most promising contact made at this year’s event might be with the RNC in Hereford. It seems there are six or so enthusiastic players who organise their own chess activities, added to which there is a conference centre we might use for a weekend event. Staging something at the RNC might be a natural way of making contact with the chessplaying students already there. I’ve taken an action to find out prices and make other necessary enquiries.Voldi is liaising with East London Vision who have had expressions of interest from up to 12 people even though at this writing the flyers haven’t been sent out. Roy Smith of Metro also gave a donation for which we are obviously grateful, and so this might be an opportunity to spread the word amongst Metro members. The committee felt we’d probably do better to try and make something of these contacts than direct our energies into exhibiting at more Sight Village events, at least for now.If you have bought a BCA polo shirt, please do wear it when you are at an event. Gary did at Harrogate, and a couple liked it enough to send us a gift! And if you haven’t bought a shirt, you could always mention it to your friends ahead of your next birthday…

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We are looking at boosting our presence online. At the British Computer Association of the Blind’s last AGM I heard about an online forum called TeamTalk. Apparently there are quite a few visually impaired people on there. Our Facebook page is getting quite a few “likes” and we want to increase the number of people who tweet for us.Our junior development programme continues and we plan to stage our next Junior Championship in April next year. What with Haaksbergen, the National Club Championships and our top players’ involvement in the 4NCL April is getting a crowded month! Sadly one of the Surrey schools has had to pull out of the programme Owen Phillips was running. We did have an expression of interest from a school in Reading, but at the moment we can’t make that work practically. We are sending bags with the BCA logo on them to the next Junior Championship so that all participants will have something to take away.Finally finance and fundraising: Julia Scott raised a magnificent £34,900 for us in the last financial year! We’d also like to express our gratitude to Apex Credit management, the company where David Hodgkins was working when he died, for adopting us as their charity of the year in 2015. We’ll be inviting a couple or more Apex Credit Management guests to the AGM.Gill has completed the 2014/2015 accounts and sent them off, and we’ve ratified our reserves and investment policy for another year. And so what with the completion of the Trustee’s Report, from an administrative point of view, it’s roll on 2015/2016! Guy Whitehouse

BCA British ChampionshipReaders will recall that an article was included in the August 2015 Gazette setting out some of the issues and concerns surrounding the future of the BCA British Championship. A key point is that, at the 2014 AGM, it was decided by a large majority to continue with the Championship as a seven day event but when it came to the test there was a disappointingly low entry again this year with only 10 players and just 20 in our party. In an attempt to understand how we might attract more support for this event, the August article invited members to give us their views and we also sent a questionnaire out to the UK VI members who had attended at least one BCA over the board tournament in the last few years. There were around 40 such members who were sent the questionnaire and we received 18 responses. We are now in a position to summarise the fruits of this consultation process.Auckland Hotel and Morecambe: Numbers were approximately equal between those put off by the choice of the Auckland Hotel and those not put off. A small majority, however, feel we should give it a miss for a while. There were about four who strongly dislike the Auckland Hotel. There also appears to be a majority who feel we should move on from Morecambe.Time of year: No one appears to have been put off by the time of year. Most are very much against returning to August for the Championship. May/June appears to be favoured.Seaside Resort: Only four felt it was important to choose a seaside resort.Seven day event or weekend event: Three were put off by the seven day event. A couple more felt it might be worth looking at some kind of weekend format. Of those who gave a clear vote for one or the other, a clear majority favoured the seven day event over the weekend event by eight votes to four.Open event or closed event: A clear majority favoured an open event by eleven votes to three. A couple of these appear to favour the open event, only because current numbers are low.These responses point reasonably clearly to the following conclusions.* A seven day event, open to all visually impaired players and to associate members of the BCA.* Probably in May/June, certainly not August.* Seaside resort: not necessary, but not excluded.* Some place other than the Auckland Hotel, or Morecambe.At the start of the consultation process, the BCA Committee and the Tournament Sub Committee had in mind that it might be appropriate to present to the 2016 AGM a possible weekend option for the 2017 British Championship but we have abandoned this idea in view of the questionnaire responses. However, this does not stop an individual member from putting forward such a proposal or any other proposal for that matter. Any proposal concerning the British Championship should be sent to the BCA secretary, Guy Whitehouse, by 20th February 2016.The outcome of the consultation process does have important implications for our selection policy for international team events. Under our current policy, the players finishing in the first three places in the BCA British Championship automatically qualify for the UK team in the following IBCA Olympiad or World Team

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Championship. With many of our leading players not participating in the seven day British Championship, our current selection policy means that we are not necessarily able to field our best team for an international event. Some members might feel that this does not matter but, in the view of the BCA Committee there is a strong case for amending the policy, largely because of future funding concerns. Donors and sponsors would not necessarily buy into our programme when our procedures prevent us from fielding our best team. The Committee will present to the 2016 AGM a suggested amended policy in which only the top two players automatically qualify and it will be up to the AGM to come to a conclusion.One final point: As mentioned in the August article, we would like to hear from any member who has come across a hotel they think might be a possibility for a seven day BCA British Championship. We don’t expect you to negotiate; we will do that. We feel most members will have some idea of the requirements: Sufficient rooms for up to 40 guests, with some single rooms; a function room for chess playing; suitable for VI people and for guide dogs; reasonable travel connections.Norman Wragg

All Under One RoofMembers can claim support for attending any of these congresses from the Congress Support Scheme. You just have to flag up with the Congress Support Officer, Mark Kirkham, that you intend to participate, and assuming you have not exceeded the amount you are entitled to claim in a year and that you send in a small report on the tournament afterwards you could probably offset the vast bulk of costs incurred by playing in an event.This list should not be treated as definitive and is only as complete as I can make it whilst complying with gazette deadlines. The following events take place in hotels so the accommodation and tournament are at the same venue.Castle ChessThese are organised by Tony and Barbara Corfe. You can subscribe to Tony's newsletter yourself; just email him and you will be added to his list of subscribers. Tony and Barbara are used to having visually impaired participants in their events. I have also found that other participants in Castle Chess events have got to know and befriended BCA players.Please note that unless otherwise stated, all Castle Chess congresses are now six-round Swiss events and you are allowed to take a half-point bye in any two of the first five rounds. The grading bands are an Open which also has an U180 section, the Major for those under 160 with an Intermediate section for U140s, and a Minor section for those with a grade less than 125 with a Challengers section for U100s.19th – 21st February 2016, 9th Portsmouth Congress, Lysses House Hotel, High Street, Fareham. Rooms in this hotel are limited so book well in advance if you wish to go to this event.11th – 13th March, 2016, 8th Hereford Congress, Green Dragon Hotel, Broad Street, Hereford. BCA players have enjoyed this event in the past. The Green Dragon hosted a masters tournament in 1885 where the winner was JH Blackburne.e2e4 EventsIt looks as if e2e4 events are starting up again. Contact Sean Hewitt.19th – 21st February 2016, Gatwick Congress, Crown Plaza Hotel, London-Gatwick Airport, Crawley. This is a five-round Swiss. There are three FIDE-rated sections: an open and sections for those with a FIDE rating under 1950 and under 1700. There is discounted food and drink available to chess players. The cost of hotel rooms is just £55 pppn for a single room, or £36 pppn for a double room. These rates include full breakfast, free onsite parking and are fully cancellable up to the day before arrival. The entry fee is £35 with a £5 discount for hotel guests. There is free entry for women and girls provided they enter on or before Sunday 31st January 2016.27th - 30th May 2016, Gatwick Whitsun Congress, Crown Plaza Hotel, London-Gatwick Airport, Crawley.This is a seven-round Swiss. There are four FIDE-rated sections: an open and sections for those with FIDE ratings under 2050, 1850 and 1650. The entry fee is £38 with a £6 discount for hotel guests. There is free entry for women and girls who enter on or before Sunday 1st May 2016. The cost of hotel rooms is £55 per night for a single and £36 per night for a double or twin.

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4NCL FIDE-rated CongressesYou don’t have to have a FIDE rating to play in these five-round Swiss events! There are sections for various playing strengths and most sections have grading prizes. For more information please contact Mike Truran or see www.4ncl.co.uk/fide/information.htm. No telephone number is provided.1st -3rd April 2016, 8th 4NCL Congress, Cedar Court Hotel, Denby Dale Road, Calder Grove, Wakefield There’s an open section and sections for those graded under 175 and under 135. Other Events11th – 13th March 2016, 40th Blackpool Conference, Imperial Hotel, Promenade, Blackpool. There are five sections; Open, Major (U181), Intermediate (U155), Minor (U135) and Standard (U115). Email blackpoolchessconference@yahoo.co.uk. No telephone bookings will be accepted.13th – 18th March 2016, Rothay Manor Chess Holiday, Rothay Manor Hotel, Ambleside, Cumbria. ECF graded, seven round Swiss tournament and four tutorial sessions on openings, middle games, endings and tactics. Website: http://www.rothaymanor.co.uk/Special-Interest/Chess.aspx Contact: Peter Cloudsdale. Note that this event finishes on the day when the BCA AGM Congress begins. 25th – 28th March 2016, WECU 69th Open Easter Congress, The Royal Beacon Hotel, Exmouth, Devon. Three sections; FIDE rated Open (incl. West of England Championship); FIDE rated Major U1950 or ECF U170; Minor U135. Website: http://www.chessdevon. Contact: Meyrick Shaw 10th – 16th April, Polar Capital Jersey International Chess Tournament, Hotel Ambassadeur, St Clement Bay, JerseyThere are two sections; a nine round FIDE rated Open and a seven round Holiday Tournament for those with a rating under 1900, or graded under ECF 160 if unrated. In addition, the Nautilus Jersey Open Blitz Tournament, will take place on 13th April. Website: http://www.jerseychessclub.com/the-polar-capital-tournament/ Contact Paul Wojciechowski. Guy Whitehouse.

Colin Crouch Celebration Chess CongressThe ECF Calendar contains the following announcement about an event to celebrate the life of IM Colin Crouch, a former BCA Champion: Venue: Harrow High School, Gayton Rd, Harrow, Greater LondonECF Graded, FIDE Rated. Website http://colincrouchccc.co.ukA nine round Swiss, open to all. Saturday 2nd to Sunday 10th April daily from 2.30pm. Incorporating the English Senior Chess Championship (Monday 4th to Friday 8th April daily from 2.30pm. Rate of play as the Masters.) Other events include – Weekend tournaments 2nd -3rd April; Monday to Friday graded events, morning 4th -8th April; Junior Tournaments, morning 5th -10th AprilPRIZES – £1000; £600; £400; £300; £200£150 each for: The highest placed female player; The highest placed player who is neither a GM nor IM; Best rel-ative FIDE Rating performance by a player rated less than 2200; Best relative FIDE Rating performance by a player aged under 21; Best relative FIDE Rating performance by a disabled player.Tradewise Insurance Special Prizes (for those not already holding the title): For GM/WGM norms £100; for IM/WIM norms £50.John Robinson Bursaries each of £100 for the five highest rated English players U21 at the time of the congress.Rate of play: 40 moves in 90 minutes, followed by all the remaining moves in 30 minutes, with the addition of 30 seconds for each move from the start. Contact: Stewart Reuben

An important note from the BCA Committee:As a mark of respect for Colin, the committee would like to encourage as many visually impaired members as pos-sible to take part in the congress and, with this in mind, we shall be providing help with funding. Please email customerservices@braillechess.org.uk or telephone our Secretary if you are interested in playing. Of those who decide to play, the two UK resident players with the highest ECF grades in the list in force at the end of January 2016 will receive full funding to take part in one of the congress events of their choice. Full funding will include travel, accommodation, and entry fee but not lunch or evening meals. Other UK resident VI members will also re-ceive help with funding, up to a maximum of £150 each in addition to any congress support grants they are eli-gible to claim.

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BCA Members in Mainstream TournamentsPlease don’t forget to let me know if you’ve played in a mainstream event and would like a mention here. (Also, visually impaired UK resident members should remember to claim a grant under the BCA Congress Support Scheme if eligible. Contact Mark Kirkham for details.) Don’t worry if you had a bad tournament; scores will only be published in the Gazette if you win a prize. I look forward to hearing from you!Julie Leonard39th Scarborough Chess Congress, 23rd – 25th OctoberNorman Wragg scored three out of five in the U150 Intermediate section and won a grading prize! Norman really enjoyed the weekend! Our associate member, Roger Waters, also competed in a different section of the congress. 25th World Senior Chess Championship 2015 (Open 50+ Section), Italy, 9th – 22nd NovemberOwen Phillips competed in this tough 11 round Swiss with nearly 100 players taking part. He encountered oppon-ents from nine different countries, including six national champions. He gave a very creditable performance and finished nine places higher than his seeding! 7th CSC London Chess Classic Super Rapidplay, 12th – 13th DecemberA staggering 367 players entered this 10 round Swiss where each competitor had to play all moves in 25 minutes with a 10 second increment per move from move 1. The field included 36 Grandmasters, 28 International Masters and many other titled players. Competing alongside them were Owen Phillips and our BCA Junior Champion, Efe Shimwell! It must have been overwhelming to play in such a huge and prestigious event, but nevertheless Efe and Owen both came away with very respectable scores.

Two Items for SaleSally Kenealy has asked us to mention two of David Hodgkins’s possessions which she would like to go to the highest bidder to help raise funds for the BCA. Both are still in their original packaging and have never been used.The first is a Braillenote PK notetaker. The software that was on it when David bought it is now out of date but upgrades are available. These notetakers come in various flavours, but I’m guessing that this has a Perkins-style Braille input keyboard. The applications on the fully upgraded notetaker that you would have access to include internet browsing, email, word processing, an in-built microphone for memo taking, a media player, internet radio (to be fair, this isn’t the best), a bookreader (this enables you to read files without updating them so you don’t need to worry about the text changing), a calculator and some personal organiser type features such as an address list database. I’m fairly sure it has Bluetooth and wifi. The Braillenote PK is not the most recent Braille notetaker product on the market, however even so to buy something like this new you would have paid something like £4000. Most people couldn’t actually afford them and only got one through schemes such as the disabled students allowance or access to work. I am fairly sure that if you rang Humanware they would help you through the upgrade process; they might even allow you to send it in and do the upgrade for you.The second item is a Nokia C5 mobile phone with Talks installed on it. I actually have one of these with a contract myself, though it is an old model of phone which I believe isn’t manufactured any more. Whether you would get a contract now I don’t know, so you might want to check with your nearest mobile phone shop or perhaps ring the company you have your mobile with now to make sure. I personally will keep using my C5 till it finally gives up the ghost because I like the tactile buttons on it and, to be fair, I’m not that ambitious in my use of mobile phone technology; as long as I can text, make and receive calls I’m happy. I have used it to access my gmail account and a couple of other websites before, but I have to say, to be honest this was a mixed experience and not something I do now.If you are interested, contact a committee member, stating which item you’re interested in and how much you are offering. Guy Whitehouse.

Membership Secretary’s ReportBefore I introduce our new members, let me first of all mention a proposal that the Committee will be bringing to the next AGM. It probably hasn’t escaped anybody’s notice that the price of BCA membership hasn’t changed since Greco first pushed a pawn! It certainly hasn’t changed since I joined the BCA in 2005, apart from life membership being reduced from £70 to £50! At the next AGM the Committee therefore will be proposing that annual subscription is increased from £7 to £10, with the caveat that the increase won’t come into effect until the printing of the next batch of leaflets, so as not to make any increase counterproductive. The Committee are not

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proposing any change to the price of five year and life membership, which will remain at £20 and £50 respectively. I won’t squander the precious pages of this magazine to explain/bore you with my reasoning for the proposal but will save that exciting discourse for my AGM report. Right, far more important than figures, let me introduce our new members. This time I am pleased to say we have five new members, which include a very keen new junior.Let me start the ball rolling therefore by now officially extending a very warm welcome to Hugo Roman. You may remember that I briefly introduced Hugo in my report to the November Gazette, but as at that point he hadn’t yet officially joined, I said I would give him a proper welcome in the February Gazette. It was great to meet Hugo at our Autumn Tournament in Harrogate. Hugo has joined as an overseas associate member and hopes to come to Derby in March. VI chess players must know how to have a good time both on and off the board, as Hugo tells me that he has not only twice served as IBCA Arbiter, he is also a member of the French and Netherlands associations, not to mention a member of his home country Belgium. Chris might be pleased to read that Hugo specifically asked me to mention that he is also a huge Ross fan! Keeping with the overseas theme, in my November report I also hinted that we may have a new member joining us from the USA. It is my pleasure therefore to welcome Jim Homme, who has joined as a five year member, which brings our USA membership up to four. Unfortunately, I know very little about Jim but I do know that the BCA was recommended to him by a friend. With the advent of email, the world is a much smaller place and I do trust you will feel very much a part of the association.Well, sort of keeping with the overseas theme but obviously not joining as an overseas member, all the way from the Isle of Wight may I extend a very warm welcome to Arthur Greatrex who has joined as a life member. Arthur is an ex Brumby, went to my old school Lickey Grange and as well as chess enjoys playing country music on the guitar, so in my book must be a top guy! Arthur tells me that when he had more sight he spent many years sailing the seas as a skipper. In speaking to him I get the impression that he has taken up chess with the same gusto and he tells me he always plays better after a couple of pints of Guinness! So if he’s playing me I will do my best to ensure the bar is closed! Arthur is hoping to come to Derby and to Bournemouth.Well, Arthur may have gone to my old school, but the next new member went to Dorton College, Tanvi’s old school. It is my great pleasure therefore to welcome Adam Luckhurst. I get the impression that Adam is a little newer to chess than our other new members and so for now has joined as an annual subscriber. Adam graduated from Dorton College about 20 years ago. I don’t know whether his time at Dorton would have coincided with Jeff Baker, a BCA chess coach who for many years ran chess classes at that establishment, but if so, it just goes to show that teaching children chess is never a waste of time and money. Finally, I am delighted to welcome new member, Eli Josebashvili, who at 14 has joined as a junior member. If enthusiasm is a good measuring stick then watch out Chris! As I write, Eli is putting our Chairman through his paces in an email game. It is nothing but joy to behold the enthusiasm of the young as it proves that chess is very much alive and well and the BCA will potentially live on to see another 80 plus years!DeceasedThis is the heading I always hate to include but tragically it is too often a feature of my reports. I have recently had it on good authority that the London based John Gallagher passed away some time ago. John joined the BCA at the close of 2008. Unfortunately, I never had the pleasure of meeting John, as like many on the membership list, John never attended any of our events or played in any of the correspondence tournaments and it was only through recent Gazettes being returned that caused me to make some investigations. If anybody knows John and would be able to write an obituary please contact our Editor, Julie Leonard.It is also my sad duty to report the death of Peter Keffler, who passed away at the age of 92 on 22nd December 2015. Although I can’t claim to have known Peter personally, I am told that he was a larger than life character and a formidable chess player too, playing both at club and county level. Peter joined the BCA in 2011, but due to failing health sadly he was unable to attend any of our own tournaments. However, in his life time Peter certainly made his mark on the chess world. Watch out for his obituary in the May Gazette.Gary Wickett

Correspondence Chess Director’s ReportIf anybody has any correspondence issues, or would just like to know more about it, please do not hesitate to contact a committee member. (See contact details at the front of this Gazette).

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43 rd Correspondence Championship Listed below are the Groups for the 43rd BCA Correspondence Championship which started in January 2015, with quite a few results now coming in. Premier GroupGroup leader: Mark HagueWhittle 1-0 Whitehouse (Queen’s Pawn) 22Crombie 0.5-0.5 Whitehouse (Queen’s Pawn) 31Scores: Les Whittle 4/4; Alec Crombie 3/5; Ernie McElroy 2/3; Guy Whitehouse 2/4; Mark Hague 1/3; David Mears 0/5.Challenger Group AGroup leader: Denis WarrenNote: Derek Couchman has had to concede his games because of ill health.Warren 1-0 Cuthbert (Modern Defence) 30Cuthbert 0-1 Brown (Sicilian) 27Cuthbert 0-1 Gallacher (Irregular) 30Scores: Steve Brown 3/3; Denis Warren 3/3; Eric Gallacher 2/4; Jim Cuthbert 1/4; Derek Couchman 0/4. There is only one game left in this group and is a title decider between Denis Warren and Steve Brown. Watch this space.Challenger Group BGroup leader: Eleanor TewPhillips 1-0 Hague (English) 30Hague 1-0 Patching (Caro Kann) 30Tew 0-1 Cohn (Queen’s Pawn) 47Scores: Mike Hague 3/4; George Phillips 2/2; Hans Cohn 1/2; Steve Hilton 0/0; Geoff Patching 0/1; Eleanor Tew 0/3.

League CompetitionThe 2014/15 league competition started in January 2014 and is now complete. The only issue that remained to be resolved was the final game in Division 3 between David Mears and Derek Couchman. David won that game in 41 moves and takes the Division 3 title. Congratulations to David.Final scores: David Mears 4-4; Geoff Patching 3-4; Derek Couchman 1.5-4; Eleanor Tew 1-4; Jim Cuthbert 0.5-4. A new league competition started in January 2016, with five players in each of the first two divisions and six play-ers in the third division. Details of the three divisions are given below.Division 1 Group leader: Norman WraggPlayers: Steve Brown, Alec Crombie, Mark Hague, Derek Heyes and Ernie McElroy, Division 2 Group leader: Denis Warren.Players: Mike Hague, Michael McGuigan, David Mears, Geoff Patching and Denis Warren.Division 3 Group leader: Jim Cuthbert.Players: Jim Cuthbert, Voldi Gailans, Eric Gallacher, Arthur Greatrex, Iki Nahaboo and Eleanor Tew.

Ladder TournamentThere are no ladder tournament results to report this quarter. Remember that the player finishing at the top of the ladder at the end of each calendar year is declared the winner for that year and receives an inscribed trophy to keep. Congratulations to Steve Thacker who tops the 2015 ladder.Why not have a chat with Denis Warren, our very friendly, Friendly Games Coordinator and get involved in the ladder tournament? One point to remember regarding the ladder tournament is that both players must agree at the outset that the game should be put forward for inclusion in the tournament. Scores: Stephen Thacker 9; Roger Bishop 8; Jim Cuthbert and Gary Wickett 7; Denis Warren 6; Stan Lightowler 5; Mark Hague, Stan Lovell and Dorothy Hodges 4; Les Whittle, Ernie McElroy, Geoff Patching and Lea Ryan 3; Derek Couchman, Lionel Bryant, Jason Pearce and Ann Saunders 2; Chris Huby 1; Eric Gallacher 0.Norman Wragg

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The 2015-2016 BCCL CompetitionBy the time you read this the 2015-2016 BCCL postal competition will have started. Having learned about his success in our latest email competition, I set about enticing Steve Burnell to join the team and am pleased to report I succeeded! Our team this year consists of the redoubtable Peter Gibbs on board 1 (have we ever had a safer pair of hands on top board?), then in descending board order Steve Hilton, Les Whittle, Steve Burnell, Norman Andrews and Alec Crombie.Although the BCA isn’t participating in the webserver competition, I did happen to find out that Peter is! I’m sure you’ll join me as the administrative captain (i.e. out of the action, but someone has to run HQ!) in wishing all our players every success; let’s see if we can keep our place in the premier group this year. Of course winning it would be even better….. Guy Whitehouse.

4th BCA Email TournamentThe 4th BCA Email Tournament is now underway with games having commenced on the 1st of January. The parti-cipants are as follows;- Division 1: Colin Chambers, Philip Doyle, Stephen Hilton, Steve Burnell Division 2: Stan Lovell, Derek Heyes, Eamonn Casey, Steve Thacker Division 3: Michael Meaney, Voldi Gailans, John Carroll, Anthony Borg Division 4: Gill Smith, Iki Nahaboo, Denis Warren, Eli JosebashviliA couple of the Division 2 games have already finished: Heyes 1 – 0 Thacker (Sicilian Defence) Lovell 0 – 1 Heyes (Queen’s Pawn) Derek Heyes has taken an early lead with two points from two games! Can he win Division 2 outright or will Eamonn Casey manage to stop him? The tournament is scheduled to finish no later than the end of March so the final results will be published in the May gazette. Once again we are indebted to Eamonn Casey and Philip Doyle for controlling this event.

Lucy Walsh and Mary Cuthbert Memorial Tournament Dan Rugman reports:The Old Swan Hotel, Harrogate, is rapidly becoming a second home to our members, most especially our membership secretary, who was to be found there a week earlier playing in another tournament held at the same venue. Fortunately, he was able to pull up his roots and is once again to be found in the West Midlands, which is surely more appropriate.The weekend was held in memory of Lucy Walsh and Mary Cuthbert, and we were delighted to be joined by Lucy’s son, Gerry, and Mary’s husband, Jim. Sadly, a few weeks before the event, we also learnt of the passing of Juliet Reeve, another active supporter of our endeavours. Their absence was most keenly felt during the Saturday night soirée. This entertainment, kindly organised by Clare Gailans, was a highly enjoyable affair with many members taking part. There were also a few surprises. Julie (arbiter and gazette editor) brought the house down with her reworking of a Rodgers and Hammerstein classic. I was always of the opinion that "Favourite Things" was sung by a young woman trying to face her fears. On Julie's mindset I cannot comment, but Disney is always looking for good lyricists. She even found a rhyme for Benoni! "Favourite Openings" will also remain a classic. The other big surprise was the unannounced appearance of Jim Cuthbert who led us in a sing-a-long. It's difficult to say who was more surprised, the audience or Tanvi, whose improvisational skills were certainly put to the test. Jim's late wife, Mary, was always a tour de force in BCA soirées, and his contribution was a memorable one.The hotel staff were, once again, helpful and friendly. As a guide dog owner, I can certainly testify to this. They were always quick to assist the canine call of nature and had set aside an area of the grounds, actually called the secret garden, for this purpose. I have never met a dog that felt the need for secrecy in these matters but I am sure the more bashful dog owners appreciated it.Special thanks must go to Mark Hague and Lea Ryan who did an excellent job of organising the weekend. I'm sure they enjoyed their Sunday evening meal which I believe was the first one to be uninterrupted by administrative matters. Thanks must also go to Celia Gibbs and Moira Whittle who took on the job of running the

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raffle and raised an admirable £123. Moira may want to have words with Les who dubbed the two raffleteers "the muggers!" I must also make a personal note to bring more cash with me next time as my meagre five strips was not enough to secure me a single biscuit.So finally, the chess! The proceedings were superbly presided over by Julie Leonard and Matthew Carr as arbiters, with Mike Murphy as steward. War was waged, blood, sweat, tears and glasses of water were spilt, and we went into round five with both sections still contested.John Carroll led the Challengers on 3½, chased by myself and Mark Hague on 3, with George Phillips and Jim Cuthbert in hot pursuit on 2½. I was too tired for any Winawer randomness, and so chose a quieter reply to John's French defence. I have dubbed it the back-foot attack, and it gave me the opportunity to spend half the game untangling a horribly cramped position. All things considered, I was happy with the eventual draw. George and Jim both won their games which left John in first place and George, Jim and I in joint second.Chris Ross led the Open on 3½, chased by John Gallagher on 3 and Mark Kirkham and Norman Wragg on 2½. John beat Norman putting him on 4 leaving first place to be decided by the board 1 game between Chris and Mark. My own exploits in the Challengers prevented me from seeing this game but it apparently swung both ways with Mark eventually emerging as the victor. The bookies went home in a sulk with John in first place and Chris and Mark in joint second.Who said chess was boring!

FINAL STANDINGS

Open 1st on 4 points: John Gallagher=2nd on 3.5 points: Chris Ross, Mark Kirkham3 points: Bill Armstrong (winner of Grading Prize A)2.5 points: Hugo Roman (Belgium), Peter Gibbs, Ernie McElroy (Ireland),

Michael Delaney (Ireland), Norman Wragg (winner of Grading Prize B) 2 points: Philip Doyle (Ireland), Norman Andrews, Ian Blencowe1.5 points: Sean Loftus (Ireland)1 point: Steve Thacker

Challengers 1st on 4 points: John Carroll (Ireland)=2nd on 3.5 points: George Phillips, Dan Rugman, Jim Cuthbert 3 points: Mark Hague, Voldi Gailans (winner of Grading Prize A)2.5 points: Gary Wickett2 points: Gill Smith, Mike Lowery (winner of Grading Prize B) 1 point: Richard Harrington, Eleanor Tew0.5 point: Paul Brookes

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The result of the following game allowed John Gallagher to clinch the tournament with his final round win against Norman Wragg.

Round 5: Ross v Kirkham 1. e4 e6 2. Qe2 c5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 Nf6 6. O-O O-O 7. d3 d5 8. Nbd2 Bd7 9. Re1 Qc710. Nf1 d4 11. h3 e5 12. N3h2 b5 13. f4 Bd6 14. f5 a5 15. g4 h6 16. h4 Be7 17. g5 hxg5 18. hxg5 Nh719. Qh5 Be8 20. Bh3 Nb4 21. f6 Bxf6 22. gxf6 Nxf6 23. Qd1 Bd7 24. Bxd7 Qxd7 25. Re2 c4 26. a3 Nc627. Rg2 Ne7 28. Ng3 Qh3 29. Qf1 Ng6 30. Nf5 Qh5 31. Rg5 Qh7 32. Rg3 Nh5 33. Rh3 Ngf4 34. Bxf4 exf435. Qf3 g6 36. Ng4 f6 37. Nh4 Ra7 38. Ng2 f5 39. exf5 Rxf5 40. Re1 Qg7 41. Re8+ Kh7 42. Nh4 Rg543. Re2 cxd3 44. cxd3 Rc7 45. Kh2 Rcc5 46. Nf2 Rg3 47. Qe4 Re3 Black offered a draw48. Rexe3 fxe3 49. Nh1 Re5 50. Qxd4 e2 51. Ng2 e1=Q 52. Nxe1 Re2+ 53. Qf2 White offered a draw 53 … Rxf2 54. Nxf2 Qe5+ 55. Kg2 Qxe1 56. Rh1 Qe3 57. b4 axb4 58. axb4 Kg7 59. Rd1 Nf4+ 60. Kf1 Qf361. d4 Nh3 62. Rd2 Nxf2 63. Rxf2 Qd3+ 64. Kg2 Qxd4 0-1

Chris’s PuzzleNovember Puzzle: FEN: 7Q/2p5/1P1N3R/3k4/8/2K5/8/8White: King c3, Queen h8, Rook h6, Knight d6, Pawn b6. Black: king d5, pawn c7. White to play and mate in two. Solution: 1. Qe8!A. 1... Kc5 2. Qb5# B. 1... cxb6 2. Qb5# C. 1... c5 2. Qe4# D. 1... c6 2. Qh5# E. 1... cxNd6 2. Rh5#

February Puzzle: FEN: 8/8/8/8/K7/3B4/4Q3/k7White: King a4, Queen e2, Bishop d3. Black: king a1White to play and mate in two. The solution will be published in the May issue.

Chris Ross

Millennium ClubRecent Millennium Club winners: November: Voldi Gailans, number 7.

December: Mike Murphy, number 24. January: Geraldine Gailans, number 69.

The Millennium Club raises funds for the BCA by holding a monthly draw at £12 per number per year. Each month a lucky winner receives £35. If you wish to enter the draw, send a cheque made payable to "Braille Chess Association" to the treasurer or make an online or telephone payment to the BCA.Gill Smith, Treasurer

PersonaliaSince the November gazette was published, Tristram Cole and the rest of the ‘Bookworms’ team have been back in action in the TV quiz, ‘Only Connect’! They faced the ‘Athenians’ as they competed for a place in the quarter finals. The ‘Athenians’ took an early lead and gradually increased it until they were four points ahead going into the final round. The last round is the ‘Missing Vowels Round’ where teams are asked to identify words or phrases that have had all the vowels removed. The first few questions were all about things that are black and white. So for example, the first set of letters was PNKYS and the answer was ‘PIANO KEYS’. The second cluster of con-sonants was PPNNTSNCHSS. (In case you missed the programme, I’ll leave that one for you to ponder. The an-swer is given at the end of this gazette.) This question proved to be the turning point for the ‘Bookworms’! They won the point and went on to answer question after question correctly. When the quiz ended they were the win-ners by a slender one point margin! In the quarter final itself the ‘Bookworms’ were up against the ‘Wayfarers’ who had beaten them in their first round encounter. The ‘Wayfarers’ prevailed once again and duly ended the ‘Bookworms’ run. Anyone who has watched ‘Only Connect’ will realise how tricky the questions are so let’s con-gratulate Tristram and his team on getting to the quarter final of such a difficult quiz.

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Now, how many readers can cast their minds back to the BCA Championship in Torquay in the summer of 1987? At the time it was quite a well-attended event, however, a certain family was notable by its absence. One shouldn’t really name names, of course, but I’m thinking of Clare and Voldi Gailans and their young daughter, Geraldine. However, it must be pointed out that they did have rather a good reason for not being there. Ger-aldine’s baby sister, Natalie, had just been born! Over the years, Clare and Voldi more than made up for not going to Torquay by bringing their whole family along to BCA events such as Minor Championships in Paignton and Llandudno, the Diamond Jubilee in Oakham and a Championship in Willerby. It has been a joy for longstanding members to meet the girls at intervals as they’ve been growing up. My reason for writing about this now is be-cause the new baby of summer 1987 has recently become a new mum! Natalie and her partner, Ellis, became the proud parents of a daughter, Poppy, on the 5th of December 2015, making Geraldine an auntie and giving Clare and Voldi their very first grandchild! No doubt Clare and Voldi’s BCA friends will join me in congratulating them on the new arrival and sending very best wishes to the whole family! Julie Leonard

Juliet ReeveLetter from Rosemary Holley to Braille Chess Association (BCA) Members, 16th December 2015Dear All,It was a great shock to me when my aunt Juliet Reeve died in August after her hip operation. The Braille Chess Association was an important and enjoyable social activity for Juliet. She had been involved with BCA for 20 years, so I wanted to write to you her friends.As you may know Juliet did not want a funeral, memorial or thanksgiving service. She was a very private and selfless person who wanted no fuss. She would like her friends to know that her ashes are buried under the old yew tree in St Paul’s churchyard, Shurdington, near Cheltenham. I am organising a memorial stone with her name in Braille for her blind friends to find.Juliet first starting coming to Braille Chess with her partner Peter ‘Dai’ Price. The chess weekends and coaching weeks were highlights of the year for them both and I remember her talking animatedly about the various locations they were held in including Harrogate and Teignmouth. Juliet was devastated when Peter died 8 years ago, after sharing 16 fun years with him. She decided to continue attending the BCA on her own because she found it very comforting to be surrounded by people who knew and loved Peter and it helped with her grieving process. She really enjoyed the activities and socialising. She often told me how welcoming and kind you all were towards her. By attending on her own she came to know several of the members a lot better and then helped organise the evening ‘soirées’. She loved organising events and in particular had a great interest in poetry, prose, books and music. This love of culture had started from a very young age and continued throughout her life. She had a great thirst for knowledge, culture, to learn new things and have new experiences, and share these with people.Juliet was a private lady with many talents and I am sure most of you would be unaware of her many accomplishments and work activities because she never sang her own praises. She quietly made a difference to many people’s lives.Juliet’s first career was in education. She received a bursary to stay on at school in Burton upon Trent, and then went to Cheltenham to train as a teacher in ‘The Park’. Her first teaching job was in Oxford in 1960. She then moved to Birmingham and specialised in children with special needs and learning difficulties (remedial as it was known then), later becoming a school inspector. She emphasised the need for good school libraries, and the importance of books and reading in schools and at home. She obtained her Diploma in Special Needs Education in 1965 and then her Master of Education from the University of Birmingham in 1980. Juliet loved living in the multi-cultural city of Birmingham and participating in the changing cityscape and local politics. She actively worked to improve attitudes and facilities for disadvantaged children by raising awareness of racial issues and learning disabilities. She was active in ensuring that the West Midlands Police Booklet ‘Play it Safe’ featured pictures of multi-racial children as well as white. She implemented a screening programme for all primary children in Birmingham to identify children with special needs. She was on the selection committee that appointed the first female headmistress in Birmingham to an all boys school based on ability, which caused a lot of controversy in the media. Juliet was a feminist and reached a senior position in Birmingham City Council Education Department which at that time was largely a man’s world. This was challenging for her, but she loved a challenge and to be able to prove herself. She was an active worshipper at Birmingham Cathedral and was involved with the Birmingham City Centre Churches Council.

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Juliet was pleased to be offered redundancy in 1988 after 30 years education service and saw it as her opportunity to have a second more personally fulfilling career and to use her talents for the greater good. Her second career as charity worker for the blind and partially sighted lasted 27 years and she was still actively working when she died. She was juggling a number of projects at once, still with great energy, passion, enthusiasm and optimism, as well as having time to meet with many friends. She perceived her greatest work achievements to be:

Director of the ‘Cathedrals through Touch and Hearing Project’ organised by the University of Birming-ham which implemented Braille and audio guides and tactile models for blind visitors into many cathedrals in the UK including Gloucester. She also significantly raised awareness about blind visitors and guiding needs to cathedral volunteers and staff. 1988-1993

Organising the ‘Images in Sound’ Concert in Birmingham Cathedral. An evening of poetry, prose and or-gan music by blind performers to raise money for the Birmingham Royal Institution for the Blind. 1994

Leisure Consultant for Birmingham Royal Institute for the Blind - organising visits to concerts, theatres, and outings for blind people living in Birmingham. 1993-1997

On the Editorial team for the ‘Gloucester Cathedral News’ for 17 years, writing, researching and commis-sioning articles, and a member of the Association for Church Editors. 1998-2015

Producing the ‘New Church Messenger’ Christian quarterly magazine on audiotape and Braille for the St John’s Guild for 15 years. Each edition included a range of items to interest, inspire, inform and amuse, including ‘From the papers’, ‘Through the Christian Year’, ‘Hymns and Psalms’, ‘Quotes and Anecdotes’, Book and CD reviews, Companionship of Prayer and the Church Calendar. 2000-2015

She once said in a letter “I have experienced the joy of meeting, listening to and learning from many remarkable people throughout the country who have visual impairment. They have inspired me to work creatively with them in a number of ways. I feel privileged and will endeavour to continue to serve in these ways to the best of my ability in a spirit of Christian commitment.” Juliet had a strong and unwavering faith and believed we should use our talents to the best of our abilities. In addition Juliet worked with the Gloucester Citizen Talking Newspaper; gave organisations, councils and MP’s advice on visually impaired access and the needs of blind and partially sighted people; and visited elderly blind people in their homes. She was an avid letter writer and sent many letters and appropriately chosen cards to friends, and also wrote letters about issues that adversely affected blind people such as riding bicycles on pavements, shared spaces, obstructions on pavements, the small size of fonts on cooking instructions, and rail travel for those with disabilities. She never gave up on lobbying about these issues and voicing her concerns. She had no intention of ever ‘retiring’ despite just having had her 77th birthday.In her leisure time she loved to attend BCA events, the Worcester College reunions (of which she was an Honorary member), the Gloucester Literary Luncheon Club, the Friends of the Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum, the Ledbury Poetry Festival and always the Cheltenham Festival of Literature, which was the highlight of her year. She loved to talk to others about poetry and books, and encouraged reading and listening. She was half way through a personal project to compile and record Peter’s many poetry and prose readings onto CD’s for Braille Chess members when she died.Juliet had a strong commitment to help others and was an extremely kind and caring person and very good friend to many. She was a very good listener and gave people encouragement in times of need, combined with practical suggestions, often researching information to help them. She loved to research new topics and would send people newspaper clippings and printouts from the internet on topics she knew were of interest to them. She was a beacon of culture wanting to share her delight in literary items, poetry, theatre and cathedrals with others. She always thought of others before herself and tried to help and give to other people in any way she could. Her greatest quality was her care for people.We will all miss Juliet dearly in so many ways. Juliet told me that she thought grieving was a private process. She wanted people to be creative in thinking of ways to remember their loved ones and do it in their own ways, however they thought appropriate. I think she would have liked a chess tournament in her memory as has been suggested.

Editor’s note: Despite living in Australia, Rosemary hopes it might be possible for her to attend this year’s Chairman’s Cup in memory of Juliet. Please contact me if you would like a copy of a poetry CD read by Peter.

Answer to the Only Connect Missing Vowels question in Personalia: OPPONENTS IN CHESS

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